Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 8.djvu/411

 THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE. 315 not even a bevelled edge, was to be «ccn. In a few days, however, it became evident that the spot was one of nmch archicolo<>'ical interest. Besides the objects above cnnmcrated, architectiual frai'tnents of tin; purest Early English period, including divj-lvth and other n)ouhliMf,'s, and the capitals of columns, one of which is not surpassed by any at York or Westminster, have been dug up ; also many fragments of medieval pottery, a small piece of chain armour, and two querns. Only a small portion of the interior has been cleared, but. it is evident that this almost unknown fortress has been one of the largest (it is more than 4(»(> ft-et long, and in one part nearly 100 in width) and, in its architectural iletails, by far the most beautiful of all the North Wales castles. From the great quantity of charred wood, and other burnt matter dug up in most part of the ruins, and many arrow heads found scattered about, in digging within the court-yard, it would seem that the castle was burnt down immediately after sustaining the attack of an enemy. May we not conclude that if, as would appear, the building has been untenanted — with the single exception referred to — since the reign of Edward I,, the siege took place prior to the final termination of the struggle between that monarch and the Welsh. If so, these arrow heads, it is presumed, are unique. None of that date are in the collection at Goodrich Court, nor, it is believed, are there any in the Tower, or elsewhere. In Lcland's Collec- tanea, (vol. i., p. 178) the taking of this fortress, during the wars of Edward I. with the Welsh, is thus recorded, — " Anno 1224, conies Penbrochiai castrum do Bere, quod erat Leolini principis, cepit. Hoc factum est ante pontem confectum super Money. '"' Mil. Wynne also laid before the meeting some specimens of the external vitrified facing of the walls at Gatacre House, Shropshire, a very ancient residence of the Gatacre family. He stated that the material enijiloyed in that structure is chiefly red sand-stone, and that the heat applied to the exterior, by which, for some unknown purpose, the face of the work had been covered with a coarse vitrified crust, had been of sufficient intensity to fill up the joints of the masonry with this singular molten substance. Mr. Franks observed that this curious fact, noticed by Mr. Wynne, might throw some light upon the discovery of the singular fragments of stone, coated with vitrified crust, found in the Abbot's Moor Field, near Elles- mere, and exhibited at the previous meeting. (See p. 1!)6.) A vciy curious instance of the use of such superficial coating, doubtless to preserve the face of the work from the action of the air, had been described by Major Rawlinson on the sculptured rock of Bchistun ; the engraved tablets there found being coated with a remarkable siliceous varnish.* Mr. Edward Hoare, Local Secretary at Cork, communicated a notice of the discovery of two ancient drinking-vessels of mixed white metal, found in February, 1850, about six feet below the surface, near the ruins of Kilcoleman Castle, about two miles N. W. of Doneraile, co. Cork. They are both preserved in his collection. The spot where these cups were found had been, as supposed, an outer vaulted chamber, or passage from the castle. Possibly, the burial place of the castle in former times might have been near that place. The metal is very hard and sonorous. Kilcoleman Castle is a site of considerable interest and note, having been the property ^ See a Notice of Castell y Bere, commonly known as Cacrljerllan Castle, nn.l a ground plan of the remains, Archaeologia Cambrensis, vol. iv., p. '211. VOL. VIII. ^ t;
 * See Vaux's Nineveh, p. 372.